Veni, Vidi, Vici
by easyl0ve
Summary: (Co-Author: le'ppo'ek) Teagan and Davis are no strangers to warfare, but when the mercenary duo are forced to battle a whole new breed of enemy things get a bit hectic. Will the pair survive in this post-apocalyptic world? Or might they just thrive? Follow them on their journey across the razed lands of America and see what happens when they run into other survivors; some familiar.
1. 1: Army of Two

**Hello from easyl0ve and le'ppo'ek! **

**We are collaborating for this fun tale, and we hope you enjoy what we put out. **

**easyl0ve: To explain, we are going to be switching off writing the chapters, and with that switch the point of view will change (it'll make sense I swear).**

**le'ppo'ek is the author of this first chapter, and mad props if I do say so myself. :)**

**ENJOY!**

Chapter 1: Army of Two

They said she would be reliable, that she wouldn't run off on her own. But with my luck, they lied. She was neither of those. The second we had arrived to the first rendezvous she was gone from sight. I was stuck by myself. Because of her I would most likely die. In the Alps. In the snow. With an unmarked grave.

This job was supposed to be a quick in and out grab 'this' stuff and kill 'this' person type of deal. Easiest thing in the world. Or at least that was the plan before I saw the whole freaking army on the guy's doorstep. Falling back to the high ground, I climbed a tree and took a sniper's perch. It would be easy enough to take down the outer guards, but taking them out undetected? That was a whole other manner. Screwing the silencer on my M40A1, I scoped in on the first target. Deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out, focus. It was all about consistency. It was all about muscle memory. It was all about doing what I'd done a hundred times before. Safety off, slight twitch of the trigger, and then a thud of a body hitting the ground. One down.

The men on the ground immediately noticed and started walking around the outer courtyard searching for me. All I could do was hope the trees gave me enough cover. Another one went down before I jumped from the tree and ran to a different location. That was procedure. Hit, hit, and run. Kill two and run so they can't pinpoint your location. I ran to the south side of the house, knowing the guards would soon realize where death was coming from. But just as I was turning around a corner, I heard a gunshot.

I stopped dead in my tracks, analyzing where the sound came from. Karma, or as they called her "Davis," was already inside. And she was well into shooting up the place too. I grabbed the key card from the dead guard as I passed him, knowing that right now, time was precious. This girl, from what they had told me, was a veteran. She was the top of the top, and I wanted to show her that I could work with the pros. I wanted to prove that I was just as good as she was.

Once inside the courtyard, I pulled out two pistols and an assault rifle from the bag that had hung around my shoulders. Should be more than enough to deal with whatever's beyond the second gate. I dropped my pack and ran, my long legs taking me up the wall and over, landing solidly on the other side. Hell waited on the other side.

It was times like this where I wanted to search for another job. The chaos. The speed at which my heart beat. My old desk job might have been better. But then I would remember how much I hated the normal life, and turned my head to the task at hand.

I didn't think in the moment, just shooting and reloading and ducking in and out of cover. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, giving me the reflexes I needed to keep going. Before long, I was joined by Davis, who had something big in her hand, the other hand holding onto a pistol. I pulled a smoke grenade from my vest. "Get down!" I yelled, before lobbing it over her head. She wasn't stupid enough to not listen, and she rolled into place next to me.

"Your name's Tee-a-gin, right?" she looked over at me, with a smirk on her face.

"Teagan. I'm guessing you got what we came here for?" I leaned out of cover for a second to gauge our chances.

"One part, still got the dude to take care of," she stuffed the item into a small satchel she was carrying. "Look up to your right, about 2:00. Guy on the machine gun. He's the mark. Can you take him out from here?" Her words were crisp, straight to the point.

"Well, my sniper is back at the front gate," I noticed her shaking her head as she reloaded her handgun. What? Did she expect me to lug that thing in here with all the enemy fire? I continued quickly shaking one of my pistols, "but a well placed shot with this should work. I'll need cover fire though. I say we take out some guys first, kill him, then make a run for it."

"As good a plan as any. Let's get to work." It was a simple task, now that there were two of us. Lean out of cover, shoot, lean back in. We were quiet as we killed, only speaking to let each other know how many were left. It was like we understood each other's thoughts.

We were perfect together.

Men were falling left and right, defenseless against our unstoppable barrage. Soon, only about ten remained. "Take our chances?"

"Shoot the guy and run. I'll cover you." I nodded to her and got ready, taking my facemask off and clipping it to my belt. I couldn't have my vision hindered. Not for this. I only got one shot. Davis signaled.

Three.

Two.

One.

Shot to the head and our machine gunner is down. Job complete. "Go!" I didn't think while I ran to the outer gate. I heard smoke grenades go off, and soon Davis was ahead of me. Just as I reached the gate, I turned my head to see if there were any men running after us.

That was a mistake.

I felt the bullet slice my skin before the pain came. The heat. I put my hand next to my temple, hot blood rushing out uncontrollably. It hadn't pierced my skull, but the length of the wound made me dizzy. Fuck me for not bringing that goddamn helmet. "Davis!" I yelled, knowing she probably wouldn't turn back. Not now. I stepped blindly in front of me, reaching out, knowing the gate was near, if I could just find the thing.

I took another step and was pulled to the side. "Shh. Don't breathe another word." I sat against the wall, opening my pack and handing the leftover ammo to the person next to me, not sure if it was Davis or one of the men trying to kill us. Time seemed to distort itself while I sat there, applying pressure to my wound with my hand. It seemed like hours until the gunshots finally stopped and the person beside me spoke again. "Let me see it." It was Davis? She...wasn't going to leave me? Our employers knew that us mercs were expendable, dime a dozen and selfish as they come. If one died on the job and the other partner/partners made it out, they would get the whole pot. Davis could leave me here and just take my money. That wouldn't have been unexpected.

But she didn't.

"Here," I felt something wrap around my head, covering the wound.

"Am I going to die?" I heard a laugh as she walked away through the snow. She was laughing at me? It was an honest question. We were miles away from the extraction point, and I know I wouldn't be able to make it there soon enough. I'd likely bleed out.

"If I didn't die, then you sure as hell won't." I could hardly make it out, but she stood and I could hear her radioing the extraction team. "Half hour? We'll be there. Have medical support standing by. Yeah, the girl got grazed by something."

"Did they change the location?"

"No."

I felt a hand pull me up from the snow, "I can't make it there in 30."

"I know." She put something over my shoulders, "I put your guns in the pack." Suddenly I was being lifted up, "You just hold on, this'll be a bumpy ride."


	2. 2: Second Coming

**Hello, and a big thank you for reading from le'ppo'ek and easyl0ve!**

**This chapter was written by yours truly, easyl0ve. :) (Point of view shift from the last chapter, in case you forgot.)**

Chapter 2: Second Coming

"You ready to go, Davis? Plane's supposed to leave in two hours," Teagan stepped into the small apartment, making sure not to get in my way. We'd been on enough missions together for her to know it was best to not get in between me and whatever I was doing at the time.

"Just need to throw a few more things in and we're golden," I walked down the narrow hall leading into the main room, "Have you been watching the news?"

"No, did something happen?" I just pointed to the TV and left her to continue packing. I only caught glimpses of the footage this morning, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing. People were going full-blown cannibal left and right, bunch of druggies. I'd only gotten a few more things in my suitcase before her head poked in the bedroom, "We're not going to the base."

I looked back at her with my normal skeptical expression, "We aren't?"

"Whatever's happening, it's big." She pulled back the curtains and carefully peeks out my bedroom window, "You have any guns here?"

"Do I have any guns here?" I scoffed and bent down to reach under the bed. "Where do you think my money goes?" I pulled out one silver case, then another black one, until the whole bed was covered in them. I opened the first box, "Here we have my baby. Fully equipped Kalashnikov, gunmetal black, switched out the barrel and stock, fires like butter and doesn't she just look so good?" I clicked it shut and opened another one, "This one you'll like, M107. Steady. A normal scope and a night vision one, if you feel like doing it in the dark. Good distance, I know how you like keeping your hands clean," I gave her a wicked smile then picked up a smaller case. "Couple of Desert Eagle .50AEs. Ammo was a bitch to pay for, but I just couldn't resist. Definition of a hand cannon. I think it was worth it." I closed the case and pointed at the largest one, "M134 minigun, which I don't technically have, if you catch my drift. I'd hate to be on the business end of it when it's going," I winked at her as her smile grew, "A pair of six shooters, for a good old fashioned shootouts, a few shot guns, a FAMAS G1, and a M4A1. There's cleaning kits in a few of 'em, plus some extras like suppressors and laser sights, stuff like that."

"Ammo?"

"Some in the cases, tons more in the garage." She opened one of the cases I'd missed, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we need to get out of the city."

"We coming back?" She shook her head. I went to the closet and pulled out the box that held the armor from my various deployments. "What are we expecting?"

"Dead coming back to life," there was something in her eyes there that I didn't understand, "Panic. Lawlessness. Threat of death. You know, the usual."

I pointed to the chest just below my window and threw one of my large duffels onto the floor, "Start pulling what we'll need." I quickly changed into the custom tailored Kevlar padded pants I'd splurged on for the last mission. They didn't breath at all, but even with the tightness I could manage a high kick, and the lining made them reasonably comfortable. They wouldn't stop bullets, but they'd slow them down and protect from most blades. I pulled my bulletproof vest over my grey long-sleeve and slipped the worn and cut up 'Bob Dylan' concert shirt over it all. It had been the one thing I'd snagged of my mother's before Robert threw everything out. I always kept it with me, even when I was neck deep in gunfire, so there was no way I was going to leave it behind today. I tucked my medallion under the layers as I kicked off my flip-flops and sunk my feet into the toed Kevlar socks I'd gotten myself for my birthday.

"I take it if they sold Kevlar underwear you'd have gotten those too?" I looked over to Teagan. She was still unloading the various knives and hatchets from the chest.

I rummaged through one of my drawers and pulled out another pair of the durable socks, "Here, now you can't be jealous," I threw them at her. I finished getting combat ready while she loaded everything she could fit into the duffle bag. It was a mess of various bladed and blunt weapons I'd scored from around the world, and I'm sure they'd come in handy. I tightened the forearm braces and slid a blue beanie over my hair before sliding my hands into the, again, reinforced Kevlar knuckled gloves. Whatever came my way, I'd be ready. My hand lingered on my metal facemask, "So, we finish up here and hit your place?"

"I have a few things there we can use," she walked past me back into the main room.

I nodded and stuffed mask and the rest of the contents of the box into my suitcase along with some underwear, a few sports bras, and a few bikini sets. There was no telling what we were getting into or where we'd be going, and we weren't coming back so I wanted to cover all my bases. I'd already had the basic toiletries stowed so I filled the rest of the space with a thick jacket, a hoodie, and whatever other items I thought might come in handy. "We should take my car," I yelled towards the kitchen that she was now rummaging through by the sound of it.

She appeared before me in an instant, "I didn't know you had a car."

I nodded, "It's a good size, reliable, camping ready, I've put so much money into fixing the thing up so I know it inside and out."

"Better than the piece of shit Accord I have?" I nodded, "Sounds good, we should start loading up."

We stuffed everything into the early 80s Grand Cherokee. It was the only thing of my father's that I'd kept, and I only took it so Matt wouldn't be able to sell it for coke money, or whatever he was into at the time. Whatever money didn't go to my weaponry hoarding problem or the bills went into this car. State of the art everything. The only thing that remained was its frame, and even that had been reinforced. I had plans on taking it camping up in the mountains during my time off, but I'd always just say it had something else that needed fixing.

"I had no idea how into camping you were, Davis," Teagan commented as she threw the last few bags into the back. I just shrugged and went back upstairs to make sure everything was secured and nothing useful was left behind. I'm sure anyone else in my shoes would feel something now, feel something when they said goodbye to the place they lived for almost ten years. When I looked over the place there was nothing in me. This was nothing more than a storage facility I slept in. Home was in this old shirt.

When we pulled away I never looked back.


	3. 3: Run To The Hills

**Hello! Here's the next installment. :) Thank you for reading. Be sure to review!**

**This chapter was written by le'ppo'ek, the best co-author ever!**

Chapter 3: Run To The Hills

Could it really be possible? I asked myself this many times while we weaved through the traffic of San Francisco. Dead coming back to life? Zombies? It seemed unreal. But then again, my gut told me this was big. And my instincts were never wrong.

Never.

No one was panicking on the streets, but there seemed to be a sort of ominous feeling. No one was walking around, at least, not the amount I was used to. Everyone who was walking seemed to quickly move, like they were in a rush somewhere. "I don't like it."

"Me neither. I think you're right; something big is happening. Like, Texas big. Let's hope it'll hold off until we get our asses out of here," Davis sped up a bit as she spoke.

"Agreed."

Once we got back to my place, I went straight to my bedroom closet. "So the living dead? Actual zombies? Now that is one I haven't heard of yet except for in the movies. What are ya thinking?" Davis leaned against the door while I pried open the false panel.

"East. To the mountains. We can bunk down somewhere up there while we actually find out what's going on." I passed the panel to Davis and proceeded to go farther into the secret closet, while asking, "You think that would work?"

"I like it; lay low, wait until the panic goes down, raid some places for food-the usual. I nicked a decent radio from that base in the Alps so we should be able to keep tabs on what the army is doing."

"Is that legal?"

She impishly grinned as she shook her head. Of course, why would anything Davis did be legal? "Okay, time to point out the elephant in the room, were you been planning for this type of apocalypse? I mean, you have so much crap in there. Hoarder level preparedness." Davis raised her eyebrows quizzically when she saw my stockpile of survival supplies. I grinned.

"Well, I wasn't expecting zombies. But I've been paranoid about some sort of disaster." I paused, grunting as I pulled out a generator. "Lug this out to your truck, I'll gather other stuff." I pulled out tanks of gasoline, then ammo and guns, and finally food and water. Mostly non-perishables, but I threw in some cookies for fun. We'd need that out there. Next was money. Just in case this thing wasn't real. In all the apocalypse books I had read, money lost all its value. Maybe in real life it was different?

I packed clothing last, making sure to have enough to survive if this whole pandemic was real. After slipping on my work vest and pants, I heard Davis call my name. "Teagan, get up here. You need to see this." I jogged up to the terrace, where Davis was pointing out something in the distance. I squinted in that direction, at first unable to make out what she was getting at.

Then I saw it.

The whole southern cityscape across was going black. And not just from the power being cut, there were thousands of figures slowly walking up the streets. "Do they think the city is doomed already?" I asked.

"I don't know. I can't tell if those are zombies or just normal people forming a mob. You have any binoculars up here?"

"Give me a sec," I rummaged through the small outdoor chest, picking out two pairs of binoculars. "Here," I peered through my own, blinking twice before actually seeing the forms. When I saw them I gasped. "Holy Shit, those are zombies. Where'd they come from?"

"Must be from the airport, or the hospital, or anywhere really. There are a hell of a lot of them though. Didn't they say to head to the naval center," she was still peering through the lenses as she said this.

"We can't go there. One; avoiding others is best, because they just get in the way. Two, what if someone recognizes us? I mean, you never know. And three, in every zombie book, trouble always occurs from meeting other people." I paused, trying to analyze the current situation. I couldn't figure it out though, "Why is the power going out so soon?"

"Good question. You know, I think this is our cue to leave town." I nodded and we went downstairs to finalize our haul before jumping into Davis' decked out Cherokee, ready to take on whatever apocalypse awaited us.

As soon as we got across the bridge, all hell broke loose. We didn't realize the severity of the situation until we crossed the bay. Zombies were everywhere. The guy on the news who said a few cases of cannibalism had gone around made me think that we would see 20 maybe 25 people who were infected. But the things we saw weren't people. They were monsters. And those monsters were popping up all over the roads.

I listened to the screams and looked on as the zombies bit into the flesh of a woman with a dog. I didn't say we should help her, because we both knew it wasn't the right move. It was impossible to save everyone, and once you save one they'll ask you to save more. It would just make it more complicated.

"Let's take local roads, they'll be less crowded than the freeway." Davis nodded in agreement, and sped through the city, trying to get as much distance between the zombies and us.


	4. 4: Remnants of Dawn

**New chapter!**

**This one is written by me, easyl0ve. I hope you enjoy it. :)))**

Chapter 4: Remnants of the Dawn

We didn't say a word to each other as we sat on the ground listening to the radio, we didn't need to. The chatter on the main frequency was a broken record, a slew of frantic voices.

"Fort Brady here." I tapped the map I had in front of my on Michigan, Teagan nodded, "They've breeched the perimeter. We're giving it everything we got, but they just keep coming." I circled the location in red.

"Camp Abbott." I tapped Oregon, "Seeing the same here. A handful of soldiers are holding up here in the communications tower, but we won't be able to keep them out for long. They've—They've found us. They're coming in." The screams in the background, the sound of gunfire. This was really happening, a real apocalypse. I circled that location in red as well.

"Camp Wheeler." Georgia. I got the pen ready, "They've gotten in. I've been bit, it's only a matter of time." For the next thirty minutes we sat there and listened as ever base in every branch called in and made the same report. They were all falling and it had only been two days since we made it up the mountain. Two days and they fell. They fell but we didn't. There was about a minute of silence after the last base fell, then a strong voice came through the speakers.

"This is General Dempsey reporting in with orders. Shoot them in the head. I repeat; shoot the unfriendlies in the head; that's a God Damn order. It's the only thing that puts them down for good. This is a fight to the death soldiers. I don't care what you have to do; you take as many of these bastards out as you can and do your best to protect the civilians of this great country." There was a break before the same voice came back; he was yelling now, "They ate my whole family. I tried to fight them off, but there was too many. Took a chunk out of my good leg. I'm bleeding out. These are your final orders, anyone out there, anyone… Take them out! Take them all—" Static. Nothing but static. That was all there was. I looked down at the map that now had dozens upon dozens of red circles across it.

We didn't move. We didn't speak for what felt like forever until Teagan shut off the radio, "Shit."

I folded up the map, "I guess that solves that." That was it. The military wasn't going to be helping us; they weren't going to save the day. There was no way to know what the private military was doing, but if I knew those men, and I did, they'd be in a bunker somewhere with their families waiting the whole thing out. Was this something that could be waited out? Was there even an end in sight? I wish there was someone to give me order. Someone to say, 'Davis, this is your new mission.' But there wasn't. There was just Teagan.

"I need to get to my family, you should try to get to yours too," she stood up and grabbed the radio which she unplugged from the generator and packed into the car. When she came back she started grabbing the supplies, "Can you take me to town or something, maybe I can pick up a car."

"No." It was all I can think. No. No, splitting up is a bad idea. No, we'd been though a few missions already, why not go through this one together too? No, I'd rather have at least someone on my team.

She stopped in her tracks, "What?"

"We aren't separating. Sticking together is the best bet." Now was not the time to lose our grip on the situation. Together we had been a lethal enough force, and a good working one at that. Our chances would be better if we stuck together. Plus, she had most of the food.

She nodded a few times, "You're right." She picked up a bag, "Mine's on the East Coast, so we can pick your family up on the way."

"I don't have a family." She set the bag in the back, but didn't move right away. She stood there, and I brushed off my pants and straightened myself out. I hadn't told her about my lack of living relatives before. I hadn't told her anything about myself, least of all that. It's not something I ever talk about, and it never came up. Not until now. I only let the silence hang for a few more moments before I picked up whatever was near me, "Let's just keep get packed up. We'll catch a few Zs and be ready for the long haul first thing in the morning." I stood next to her and placed my armload neatly in the back.

"We should probably keep some of these on us from now on," she motioned to the cases, "Hide the rest under the seats, and other supplies."

I pulled the case with my precious Desert Eagles forward and opened it. They were by far my favorite, my precious little babies. I grinned over at Teagan, "Scared someone will try to steal them?"

"It's going to be anarchy out there," she pulled her own guns out and started strapping on the proper holsters, "The last thing we need is someone to break into the car and steal all of our supplies."

I laughed, "No one can get into this car." I patted the frame, "It's fully armored. Highest grade of missile-proof glass available, the frame is reinforced and has been outfitted to withstand just about anything, even the bottom's been taken care of. Plus the tires are airless, so we won't have to worry about flats."

She scanned the vehicle with a confused look, "Why?"

I slid a full clip into each of the pistols before shoving them into the shoulder holster, "You had all of this stuff stockpiled in your closet and you're asking me why I armored my car? What? I can't be paranoid too?"

She laughed, "Fair enough." She reached into her bag and brought out her facemask, clipping it to her belt, "Keep your ballistic mask with you."

I nodded to the cases, "So which ones do you want?"

"I'll use the ones I brought for now." She reached further into the organized mess. We'll have to clean it up when we get a chance. Even looking at the pile made me uncomfortable. She brought out the bag of melee weapons, "Here, we'll conserve bullets whenever we can."

Once we were packed I pulled a large book of maps out from under my seat, "We can try to map out a route while we still have light."

She squatted down beside me as I took a highlighter to the paper, "Avoid major highways."

I did just that. We'd mainly take back roads and try to go through smaller towns. It was the safest way to get across it all, even if it would take a little more time. Whenever I looked over at her I could see the worry on her face. I couldn't imagine what it must be like for her. She still had people out there that she cared about, people that she needed. "Hey," I gave her a hard slap on the back for reassurance, "We'll get to them in no time."

She nodded, "Should only take a couple days if we alternate driving and sleeping." I kept highlighting for a while before she spoke again, "Why don't you like your name?"

"Why don't you like yours?" She shot me a confused look before I continued, "I just don't think it suits me, such a hippie name. I'm a soldier, not a lover. Plus karma is the whole 'what goes around, comes around,' the world balances itself out thing, right?" She nodded and I sighed, thinking about everything I'd gone through, "Then I guess I must've been one evil mother fucker in my past life." I quietly highlighted through a few more towns before I remembered that returning the question was the social thing to do, "What's wrong with Connie?"

She looked concerned now, "I never told you my name was Connie."

I looked back down at the map, "I make it a point to know all I can about the people I'm sent out there with."

"What did you find out?"

I listed off some of the information I'd been able to pull from various files those years ago, "Born October 28th in New York, you became a homicide detective because of what happened to your brother, then you became a merc, I'm guessing because of all the red tape. Your parents and your sister still live in New York, and you send a portion of your hauls to them after every mission. And I believe your favorite food is tiramisu."

"How'd you find all that out?"

"Nefarious means," my crooked smile crossed my face, "I spent most of my childhood in the computer lab at school."

"I'd think you'd have been more of a jock."

"Robert never allowed me to do sports," I hadn't meant my voice to sound so stern, but it was hard to control it when I spoke of Robert. I capped the pen when the sun started to set, "That's far enough, we should rest up."

"Better if we are both alert tomorrow," we stood up and stepped over to the car, "We don't know what we'll find out there."


	5. 5: The First Kill

**Thank you for reading and ENJOY!**

**This chapter was written for you by the lovely and talented le'ppo'ek!**

Chapter 5: The First Kill

My eyes flew open to the sound of a gun. I wasn't sure where it came from, but as I became more alert I realized Davis was already starting the car. I flipped up the seat, "Where?"

"9 o'clock. They shot the window." She leaned back so I could see the bullet lodged in the glass. Huh, so this car really was indestructible.

"Fucking idiots. Don't they know that zombies are attracted to sound? Any nearby will be around us in minutes." I rubbed my eyes and put on my glasses. Once we weren't going fifty down a local street, I would put my contacts in. Damn my crappy eyesight.

"They probably saw us and thought 'Look, helpless people with a huge stock of supplies, let's go raid them!' Guess that didn't work out for them, dumb shits." She shook her head and then focused on the road. "Get the map out and give me some directions." I did as she said and soon we were far from our pursuers.

"What if they find us again?" I asked after I told Davis to turn right. She scoffed.

"We kill 'em."

"But what if they were just scared?"

"Scared people don't shoot at a parked vehicle. Their asses can go to hell for all I care. Why, got a problem with that plan?" I looked down at my hands, feeling almost embarrassed for what I was going to say next

"I don't know. I feel like that since seeing other people is going to be such an oddity, that we should try to be friendly to those we see. I know it's stupid, but our race is being exterminated enough so why kill others?" It was so stupid. I knew I was too optimistic for my own good. But I couldn't help it.

"I know what you're saying Teagan, but if someone shoots at you you're supposed to shoot them right back. You must've learned that in the beginning of your mercenary career. You've seen the towns we've passed through. You know what even civilians are capable of now. When you can't tell the good guys from the bad guys, then assume they're all evil. Right?" I nodded, knowing she was right.

We continued late into the day until we came by a gas station. It looked abandoned, but we took out guns just to be safe. As Davis siphoned gas into the car, I kept a sharp lookout, seeing no forms in the distance. It was fine until headlights flashed in the distance.

"Davis." I whispered. She had seen the car too.

"Get behind the car. Let's see if your diplomacy tactics are still up to par." The two of us crouched down, guns ready. We heard the doors close and two hushed voices.

"Mel, hand me the hose." From what we could see they didn't know we were there. Two pairs of feet, one male one female.

"John, where are we headed? We've been driving for five days." There was anguish and exhaustion in her voice.

"Away from here."

"But where are we going? The kids can't just keep living like this." Kids? Why would they bring kids with them? It was harsh, but the children had only a slight chance of surviving this. "Jeremy has come down with a fever, and he can't keep moving like this. We should-"

"I know exactly what I'm doing." John said this in a stern clipped voice. Then he softened up. "Just trust me, okay?" Melissa sighed. "Go over to that car and see if you can find anything." Davis looked towards me for a signal. 3, 2, 1.

"Don't move." The girl yelped and put up her hands. You know, that is one thing I don't understand. You put up your hands to show you have no weapons, but you'll end up dead anyway. You're defenseless without hands. Half the time the attacker will shoot anyway. John immediately came over, his pistol drawn. I kept my voice even, "Friend, or foe?"

"Depends on who's asking. But I'd say friend, if that's what'll keep me alive. Who are you?"

This time Davis responded. "Mulder and Scully as far as you're concerned. How many in your group?"

"Just my family, please, don't hurt them." I turned towards Davis, knowing she could read me like a book. _Let's see if they have anything._She nodded.

I lowered my gun and smiled. "We won't hurt anyone. Where are you guys from?"

"Up north. We were hoping that it'd be better other places."

Davis laughed humorlessly. "Wrong about that buddy, whole country's fallen."

John's shoulder's slumped, knowing that running anywhere was stupid. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Then he was renewed with hope. "You guys seem like a capable pair. Can you camp here with us until my son gets his strength up? Mel was right in that he needs to get better before we keep going." This caught us off guard. I started stuttering when Davis spoke up.

"Scully and I will have to talk this over. We'll be back," She started walking to the mini-mart where we could talk in private while waving me over. Before she closed the door to the mart, she turned back. "Oh, and one more thing… You try taking _any_of our shit, hell you even look at my car and I will personally shoot you and your whole family dead. Just so we're clear." In the mini-mart, I looked for any food that seemed appetizing while she talked. "We shouldn't. It's dangerous to stay in one place for too long, and I thought we were trying to get to your family. If we help them then it's just more time that little family of yours is without you. I mean how long will it even take for this kid to get better?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.

"I don't know. Don't you think we should help a little bit? Maybe just until we see signs of him getting better."

"We don't know them. We can't trust them. Didn't we just go over this before we stopped for gas? Everyone's an enemy, no exceptions."

I scoffed. "Yeah, but that was before kids were involved. Come on, it's only a couple of days. And hey, we might find crap in this town that we could use."

"Fine, it's your family that's waiting so it's your call." I know she didn't seem happy, so I tossed her a bag of skittles. She stared down at them for a second, before comprehending what they were.

"I know you like those. By the way, you're not the only one who spent their days at school in a computer lab." She laughed and we walked back outside, ready to give our verdict to the family.

"John, we will stay. But as soon as Jeremy shows signs of improvement, we are gone. We'll keep the lookouts at night, okay?"

Relief flooded his and Mel's faces. It wasn't long before they got out a tent and their two kids started to help them. They were a young family, with a boy about twelve, a girl who was eight, and the third kid in the car looked about six. He was also the one who was sick. He stared blanking out the window, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. He looked deathly.

That night I kept the first lookout. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Yeah, there were a few walkers, but nothing I couldn't handle with a knife. When I woke Davis up, however, that was when things got interesting. As soon as she got up, we heard screams from the tent. I went over in my head the full scan I did before leaving my post. I remembered seeing no zombies, not a single one. What could Mel be possibly screaming about?

We jogged over and I cut open the tent. Inside was a scene that I would never forget.

Mel was trying to pull Jeremy away from her other boy, who was currently a mangled mess. Jeremy was covered in his brother's blood, but it was centered mostly around his mouth. He just kept feasting on his brother. John meanwhile just watched, holding his daughter to him with an as shocked expression as me. "Oh my God..." I whispered. What caused him to be like this? Was it the fever? I was still staring as Davis unsheathed her knife and stabbed the kid's eyes.

As she released, Jeremy fell with a thud to the ground, not moving, and almost cradled with his brother. I put my hand over my mouth and turned to Davis, who stood there, staring down at the kid while wiping the blood off of her knife, blank faced and expressionless, "He was a zombie." He was just another enemy that had to be put down in her mind. He wasn't a child anymore, not to her.

"No," Mel cried out, "My baby."

Davis had just killed a child. But wait, he wasn't a child in those last few minutes. He was a monster. I quickly composed myself, stiffening my back and the like. I mumbled quietly to Davis, "Get the girl and mother out of here, I'll talk to John and get this cleaned up." She nodded, lifting Mel to her feet and taking the girl by the hand. I know it must have been a bit awkward for her, but she didn't object. She had to drag the hysterical woman out, but it needed to be done. I needed to talk to John alone, "Was he bitten?"

"I guess he was, but I don't remember him coming home with a bite mark. Oh wait-Oh my god, he _was_ bitten. I remember now. He came home from school and was crying about how someone bit him, but when his mother looked, all she saw was a scrape. Then he came down with the fever. I...I guess we know now. We get bit, we turn into those things."

"At least now we know. Now what are you going to do?" He contemplated for a minute before getting up.

"Bury them and keep moving, I guess. In this world, there really isn't time for mourning. But we're burying Jeremy and Kyle. We gotta, for them." I nodded and stepped away, going to find Davis and the girls.

No one slept that night, and after the children were buried in the daylight the family and Davis and I parted ways. I told them that we would hopefully meet again in better times, knowing that it was a lie even as I let the words leave my tongue. We probably wouldn't meet again, but I did hope we would.

Our cars started and we parted ways. They went west and we kept going east, closer to my family.


	6. 6: Some of the Truth

**New chapter to help get you pumped for the midseason premiere! I hope you enjoy it. :)**

**This chapter was written by me, easyl0ve. :))) Thank you for reading.**

Chapter 6: Some Of The Truth

We drove eastward in silence. I had been heavy on the gas pedal ever since we left that gas station and those people. We'd lost time. Time we would make back by the end of today. When I glanced to the passenger seat I saw that Teagan had fallen asleep. Good. She had been looking at me like I was a murderer since what happened last night, and I was getting tired of it.

People die. That's just how the world worked. It didn't matter if you were six years old or sixty, if you were sick or if you were just stupid, sometimes it just happens.

Didn't she know this was how it was going to be? Zombies were going to come in all shapes and sizes. Besides, she didn't have to look at me like that. That mother had called me every nasty name in the book. She'd called me a bitch, a murderer, an asshole, and a thousand other things. She'd acted like I was the one who turned her son into a mindless pair of teeth. I was able to let all of them slide off of me. I'd chalked it up to her hurting, her grief. All but one.

She'd called me soulless.

She said I had no soul. That inside I was empty and it was disgusting to her. That stuck with me, as I dug those small graves with Teagan that stuck with me, even now, barreling down this desolate highway it stuck with me. Was I soulless? I'd never thought about it, never had to, but now it was the only thing running through the synapses. It had been so easy to kill that thing yesterday, that thing that so closely resembled a little boy. I didn't have to think twice about it, I didn't feel any remorse for him, I didn't feel anything at all. Did that mean I was soulless?

Teagan stirred, rubbing her eyes and putting the seat upright once more, "Want to switch?"

"The next time we fill up the tank," I glanced down at the gauge. Good. Half a tank. We still have time before the switch. "We're only a few miles from the New York State Border."

"Already?"

"I've been going as fast as I can," I kept my eyes on the road, "We had to make up for last night."

"I'll pull out the map and get the last leg of our course down." She pulled out the map and began plotting . Then something hit me. Once she got to her family she probably wouldn't need me around anymore. And I don't know if I could handle being around a family. They always made me uncomfortable, it always hurt to see other people getting the one thing I never got. I'll never get that now. Why would I want to put myself through that every day? Just me and some family, no others to keep my mind off of it? I couldn't. We'd have to split up, most likely.

I'd have to prepare her for that, "It'll probably be safer in the countryside."

"Probably," she mumbled.

I continued to explain, "So you'll want to get your family as far away from the big cities as possible."

"You aren't," she looked up from the map, "You aren't staying with us?"

"I don't know yet," I shrugged, "Better to be prepared though."

Her voice became annoyed, "I thought we were sticking together. You said splitting up was a bad choice."

I laughed, "I'm not too good with families. You say that."

She let out a sign and looked back down to the map, "Let's just deal with that when we have to." As we drove on I tapped my thumb against the steering wheel, wiggling my tongue ring around in my mouth, "You never sit still."

I glanced over at her for a second, before ceasing my movements, "Sorry."

"Don't be," she giggled slightly, "You even move in your sleep."

"I do?" I didn't know that. I guess I couldn't have. It wasn't like I could tell what I was doing when I was unconscious. And it wasn't like there were many people who saw me sleep.

"Not a lot," she continued after setting the map down, "But if there's a noise you'll flinch, and you're always rocking."

"I didn't know that."

"Since we're talking," she shifted to face me, "What's with the necklace?"

I grabbed at the silver pendant hanging just below my chest, "This?"

"Yeah. You're always messing with it."

I began to flip it over in my fingers, "It's a Saint Jude medallion."

"What does it mean?"

"He's the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes," I sighed, "Priest gave it to me after my mom died."

Her voice was somewhat reserved, "What happened to her?"

"She was sick," I shrugged, "She'd been sick since ever since I can remember."

"No wonder you're so," she paused for a second, "numb to all this." No. That wasn't why I was like this. If anything she'd been the part of me that fought against all this. She was the part of me that thought that I should feel, and experience everything life had to offer.

"Don't go blaming this on her," I snapped at her.

"I didn't –"

I cut her off, "She was the only person to ever say they loved me" My voice was as stern as it had ever been in front of Teagan, "She didn't make me like this."

"Then why?" Here it comes. She couldn't just leave it alone. "How could you just…" How could I just kill a child? Even if it was a zombie, how could I just stab a little child in the face. I guess it was time to tell someone.

I took another glance at her from the corner of my eye, "You've seen my back?" She nodded, not putting two and two together. No one ever figured it out; most people just thought I'd got the long scars on some nasty mission. I never corrected them, but now it was time. Teagan had earned it. Maybe she would stop looking at me like a child murderer. I spoke coolly, "Robert was not a nice man."

"That's your dad right?"

"He's not my dad," I objected sharply, "Dads protect their children."

She reached her hand backwards, motioning to her own back, "Did he, did he do that to you?"

I nodded. "When he drank he got angry, and when he got angry he got violent," I stared at the road ahead of me, "He drank all the time." That wasn't the whole reason for my detachment, but it was what started it all. It was a million straws on a camels back. She didn't need to know what broke me. No one could ever know that.

"I'm sorr-"

"Don't," I interrupted her again, "Don't apologize for what he did." I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Did she think that I was trying to become friends? Or that I was trying to connect to her? I wasn't. I took my eyes off the road for a second, "I'm only telling you so you'll stop looking at me like I'm a murderer."

"You were just following orders," we both looked back to the road, "I know that." Orders. Orders were the one thing I could always understand, because I didn't need to understand them. It was why I loved my job so much. When I was following orders everything became easy. Life became easy. Maybe that made me soulless; but it was all I had.

"Now that's all settled," I stopped at a fork in the road, "Which way?"


	7. 7: Life is Fine

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! The lovely le'ppo'ek wrote this one just for you readers! Let us know what you think about everything!**

Chapter 7: Life Is Fine

To say in the least, it was awkward. I didn't mean to provoke her, but it just happened. But I couldn't think about it now because we were on the bridge from Jersey to the island. Thankfully the lower levels were mostly open, and we only had to weave through a few cars. The city seemed quiet. We crawled through the streets heading to where I lived, not seeing many zombies. But we had to stop when we came to central park. We came upon a looming shadow. I got out of the truck, going up to the huge wall.

It was at least 20 feet high and seemed to made of a durable metal. "What do you thinks on the other side?" I said, still staring at it.

"Either keeping zombies out or people out." She was soon next to me, assessing the wall with her arms crossed. "But judging from the spikes," she gestured to the top, "You can tell that it's keeping real people in."

"How can you tell?" I tried seeing with her logic, but I didn't understand.

"Look at the angle of them. They're pointing outwards and there seems to be a walkway behind it. It'd be a perfect spot for killing them from above." I nodded, understanding now. But then I saw a person walking the perimeter on top.

"Davis!"

"I saw, let's get in the car and leave." Nodding again, we double timed it back to the car and slid back into an alley until he passed. "We should go inside."

I stared at her with disbelief. "What? Are you suggesting we go get involved with people? What happened to no contact with others?"

"Your family could be inside." I thought for a second, thinking of the chances of that being true. What would Dad do? Keep the family safe no matter what. Which meant schmoozing others into helping him. a.k.a.; the chances of them being in there weren't totally ridiculous. After thinking about it for a few more moments, I nodded.

"I suppose it's worth a try. Are we going to make a scene when we go in, or act scared or what?"

Davis chuckled. "Let's see how your acting skills are. I'll stay in the car while you act scared out of your mind." I nodded, and we drove through some back alleys to find the entrance. When we finally did, we drove up cautiously, not wanting to attract zombies. I waited until the patrol up top had his gun trained on me. Then the show began.

I jumped out of the car, waving frantically at the guard. "Please, don't shoot! We're here for shelter. We heard this was the place to seek refuge from the plague." To my ears I sounded desperate enough. But because of the glare I couldn't tell if the guy was buying it. He kept the gun trained on me, not seeming to care about my predicament.

"Name. Occupation. How'd you hear about this place?" I started worrying then, not sure if he was going to let us in or not.

"My name is Tea, and the girl in the car is…Julie." Now the bullshit starts. "We were marines that got lucky. Our superiors told us to find our families and head east, because the whole west coast was decimated. Before power was cut, an emergency broadcast was delivered on our channels." I wasn't even sure if I'd believe this bullshit, but the guys seemed to buy it.

"You can handle a gun then?" He still seemed wary. I just nodded still unsure if he would let us in. But after what seemed like much consideration, he called back to a guy to lower the gate. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders when they opened those metal doors. I turned around to Davis, giving her a goofy grin and a thumbs up, to which she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

When I turned again, I almost did a double take. I saw standing talking to the guards, what seemed to be a ghost from my past. He was holding a clipboard, and when he looked up all I could see on his face was shock, then confusion. Eventually he smiled, shoving his clipboard at someone else, and ran to meet me. "Teagan? You survived this bitch of an apocalypse?" I only stood there, not believing my eyes.

In front of me stood my ex partner, Taylor, who was a dear friend. He had understood why I left the precinct. He was almost as fed up with the Chief as I was, but unlike him, I couldn't deal with the pent up anger. It was always do this, do that. Keep your mouth quiet, this evidence isn't good enough. After a personal case, when he disregarded blatant evidence, enough to prove the killer three times over, I cursed him off and threw my badge in the chief's face.

"Taylor…" I mumbled while he pulled me into a hug.

"I suppose we have to catch up, eh?" He smiled warmly again, and this time I smiled back. But then I remembered why we were there. Davis was leaning against the car and watching cautiously, I turned back and started talking.

"Is my family in this compound? Are they here?" I tried looking over his shoulder, but I couldn't see anything with the stupid sun in my eyes. When I looked back at Taylor, he seemed somber.

"You should come inside first. We have a lot to talk about." I jumped back in the truck and we meandered on into the makeshift town. Inside, it seemed like a whole different world. There were actually kids running around, having fun. It was like one big campsite, but with armed officers watching the perimeter. People were chatting and I even heard some laughs here and there.

"I don't like it." Davis muttered under her breath. "It seems like a prison." At first I didn't see it, but then I saw the glances people threw over their shoulders, like they were afraid of the other people in the town. It's the army that's here. I looked closer at the mother's looking after their children, and they seemed frightened.

Looking straight ahead, I said, "I agree. Let's get my family and get out, if my family is even here." Taylor had us settled in a somewhat isolated part of the settlement, and I think it was because of Davis' cold stare that she gave to everyone who threw us a snide look. But I think it was better than being the center of attention, which would have surely caused problems.

"Taylor, you know me too well to keep something as important as my family away from me. Now spill." I crossed my arms at him, making sure to look intimidating. He raked his hair back before he answered.

"Tea, your father and mother, I don't know what happened to them. They said they were running back to their apartment but that was three days ago. I would send out a search party, but I can't risk it. These people look up to me as a leader. But now that you're here, I could go with you and your friend to look for them. They were a good peacekeeping force when they were here, and we need them back as much as you do." We were on the bridge over a small tunnel, and I gripped the railing tightly.

Now I was scared. What if they were trapped, or worse? What if they had the raging fever Jeremy had, and were soon on their way to being walking corpses themselves? A million thoughts raced through my mind, but they all led back to one thought.

My sister. Was she dead, or was she somewhere in this prison like town? I had to protect her.

"What about Marcy?" I parted my hands from the metal and looked through the camp searching for a familiar face, looking for those bright eyes that were always full of innocence. But I couldn't find them.

"She's safe." What the fuck was with his ambiguous answers? He knew I was in no mood for this.

"What the fuck does that mean? Taylor, where the fuck is she?" He seemed almost scared of me then, and Davis seemed amused. But then I heard her voice.

"Teagan, where did you learn that language, because it certainly wasn't from our home." I wheeled around, relief washing over me as I saw those bright green eyes I had so desperately missed.

"Marcy?" I pulled her into an embrace, feeling like she might disappear from me forever if I let go.

"The one and only. Where have you been the past years Tea? When I saw you while on patrol, I almost didn't believe it. They thought you were dead, but I always knew. Whenever that check came, I knew you were still keeping tabs. I actually started looking forward to them, and I was going to try to write a letter to you, but there was never a return address." I pulled away, looking at how much she had matured in my absence.

"Marcy! Where's your lovely hair? How am I supposed to braid it now? Oh, you're so tall! Almost my height, would you look at that?" I also noticed that the whole innocent vibe that was around her in childhood was still there, even if had lessened a bit. She looked tougher, but then again that's what you had to do in an apocalypse; toughen up or die.

"You know, it's really hard to keep long locks of hair maintained in a place like this. So I had to make due." She smiled then, knowing it was something I could use to make this seem less surreal. "Have you seen Mom or Dad in the city?" Worry flashed across her eyes. I shook my head, but reassured her saying, "I'm going to go with Taylor to find them and bring them back, okay?" Davis, who had just been watching, spoke up then.

"A word, Teagan?" I nodded and grasped Marcy's hands.

"Let me speak with Davis, and we'll keep talking, okay?" She nodded and left to go do something else. "Davis, what's up?"

"You seem to think that I'm not going with you; care to explain?"

"Taylor and I are more than enough force to deal with a few zombies."

"I don't trust him. Him or anyone else here. We both know there's something wrong with this place." She crossed her arms, looking at the camp.

"I know." She looked up, a quizzical look glazing over her eyes. "I want you to find out what's off about this camp, since you know how to analyze. Also, do you really want to leave your truck here?" She seemed taken aback at first, but then chuckled.

"True, I would never leave that tank behind."

"Also, I want you to watch Marcy. It'll be a great time to work on people skills, yes?" She nodded and I went to look for suitable armaments to take with me.

When Taylor and I were ready, we went to the entrance of the compound. "Teagan!" I heard Davis shout. I turned around and started walking backwards, anxious to find my parents. "Watch your back." I smiled that same goofy grin I had done earlier and gave a thumbs up once more.

And once more Davis just rolled her eyes, but this time there was a glint of humor in them.


	8. 8: The Devil You Know

**NEW CHAPTER! Written by yours truly, easyl0ve! THANK YOU FOR READING! Please review with your input! ENJOY!**

Chapter 8: The Devil You Know

The instant Teagan and Taylor were out of the gates I went about my current objective: find out what's wrong with this place.

I turned to Teagan's sister, figuring if I was going to have to spend time with anyone here it might as well be her. I forced a smile as best as I could, "Mind showing me around?"

"Of course," her face was warm when she looked over to me, "What do you want to see first?"

"The wall?" I tried not to sound too eager about it, and she didn't seem to phased by my choice.

"That makes sense," she started towards an improvised ladder and I followed close behind, double-checking that I'd locked my car, "Taylor set this whole place up when it first started."

I feigned ignorance, "The guy Teagan left with?"

"Yeah," she nodded as we reached the top, "They were partners when she was a detective."

I glanced around from my new vantage point. It was as I figured from the glimpse I got of the guards before. Assault rifles. Not pistols, not even silenced. It didn't add up. I turned to my guide, "Assault rifles seem like a strange choice for up here."

"What?"

I listed off a few obvious issues, "Notorious for inaccuracy and the general wasting of bullets." I saw her eyebrows furrow. Teagan wasn't stupid, and I could only assume her sister wouldn't be either. I decided to change my course of action and be more direct, "Hunting rifles would be better suited for guards… But that assumes that you all are trying to keep the deadies out."

She caught my accusation and took a defensive stance, arms crossed, standoffish, "What else would we be doing up here?"

There it was, only just short of actual admission. There was definitely something going on here. I turned back towards the expanse just outside the wall and shrugged, "Just saying." She didn't see the small smile on my face, the smile that just screamed victory.

She didn't miss a beat though, standing beside me and lightening her tone almost comically, "So you were a mercenary?"

I shook my head, not hiding my annoyance at the term she'd used through my stern voice, "Security specialist."

"Oh, sorry," she hunched her shoulders for a few moments before her curiosity got the better of her, "What was it like?"

I didn't even look at her, "Ask your sister." I quickly changed the subject to the matter at hand, scanning the wall as I spoke, "So this thing goes around the whole place?"

"Except the front gate, yeah," she seemed proud about it "Pretty nice, huh?"

I shrugged again, "I've never been one for walls, personally. Don't like feeling trapped."

As we continued our stroll around the top of the wall I heard a woman's yells just below, "It's just a cough!" I looked down and saw two men taking a third away from the hysterical woman, "He'll be fine by the end of the day!"

One of the 'soldiers' answered her, "We have to be careful, Ma'am."

"But it's just a cough!" She rushed forward towards the man being taken, "Can't I go with him?"

"Just stay here," the other guard stopped her, pointing his gun at her feet, "He'll be back once he's better."

As the man was dragged away I turned to Marcy, "Are you going to explain that?"

"What?" She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about, so I nodded to the place where the scene had just occurred. False realization flooded her face, "Oh that! We just have to be careful, since everyone's living so closely. So anyone who gets sick goes to a separate section of the camp until they're well again."

I raised an eyebrow at her, skepticism rampant in my voice, "Is that so?"

"Yeah," her eyes shifted around. She was even a worse liar than me, and that was saying something.

I decided to keep probing, "So how many people have come back?"

"I—"

"Marcy!" A man approached us, toting an assault rifle like the rest of the guards. He had a slimy look to him, greased hair and a wily face. His voice set off alarms in my skull, "Care to introduce me to your new friend here?" He held out his hand towards me, but I just stared at it. There was no way in hell I was shaking this guy's hand, even if I had gloves on my hands.

"Anthony this is Davis," Marcy spoke for me, "She showed up with my sister."

He gave a bow, "Nice to meet you, Davis." Immediately he eyes the holsters at my waist, "Those are some fancy guns you've got there, mind if I take a look at them?"

He reached out to them and I stepped back, snapping, "Look with your eyes."

"Sorry," he raised his hands apologetically before continuing, "Those seem pretty big for a little lady like you. You sure you can handle them all right? We might be able to trade you some smaller ones."

"Davis was in private security," Marcy answered, "Like a soldier." Great. Now they'd all know I had a military background. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen. I narrowed my eyes at Marcy as subtly as I could manage.

Anthony's eyes were on me again, making me even less comfortable than I already was, "That so, huh? We'll be able to use your help keeping all these people safe in there."

"I'm just showing her around while my sister's out with Taylor."

"Don't let me slow you down then," he stepped towards the nearby ladder, "I'll be seeing you later, Davis."

Once he was a safe distance away I hissed at Marcy, "I wish you wouldn't have told him what I did for a living."

"Was it a secret?"

I pointed at her, "These people don't need to know anything about me."

"You gotta be more friendly than that," she smiled, ignoring how pissed off I was becoming, "We all have to get along with each other, otherwise living together's going to be difficult."

Living together? Did she think I was going to actually live with these people? I let out a laugh, relaxing back a bit, "I'm not staying."

The shock on her face was priceless, "What?"

"I'm just here until your sister makes it back from her little errand," I looked her directly in the eyes so she knew I wasn't joking around, "Then I'll be leaving."

She still seemed confused, "Why? It's safe here."

That's when I lost it. I didn't have time for bullshit cover-ups or trying to make friends with someone who wasn't going to be straight with me. My voice sharpened once more, "You can drop the act." On cue I heard the faint pops of a gun in the not-so-distant distance. I looked at her, "Do you hear that?"

She shook her head, "What?"

I held up three fingers, "Three shots, silenced pistol." She forced a confused face once more, "Sounds like the cough is the least of that guy's problems now."

She seemed almost offended by what I'd said, "Excuse me?"

"You aren't keeping the zombies out," I wasn't hiding my disgust anymore, and disgust is exactly what it was, "You're keeping people in. Innocent people. And I don't feel like finding out why, so just stop acting."

"How did you—"

"Picking up on things was my job," I interrupted as I made my way down the nearest ladder and back towards my car, "Assessing situations. Knowing what is actually happening. They call it 'situational awareness.' Maybe your sister can teach that to you when she gets back."

Her voice was small but audible, "You're wrong…"

"Listen, if I wanted someone to blow smoke up my ass I would've kept talking to that Anthony man." My strides were long now. I just needed to get back to my car, back to safety. Then I could wait the hour or however long it would take for Teagan to get her ass back here. That's all I needed to do now. Mission accomplished, time to go. The way she followed behind me irritated me, so I called back to her, "If you aren't going to be straight with me then we really have nothing more to say to each other."

"Fine," she grabbed my arm just as I was turning the corner, "I'll tell you."

My car. Men around it. Men around my car, sticking their noses on it, touching it. Trying to get inside. I shook Marcy's hand off my arm and ran towards my home, undeniable fury in my voice, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

One of the men stepped towards me, "We're just loo—"

"Get the hell away from my car," I pulled out the Desert Eagle from my right holster and pointed it directly at the men still at my old Cherokee, "Did I fucking stutter!?"

Marcy ran in front of me, almost scared, "Whoa, calm down."

Another guy talked, "We were just looking."

"Get away from my car," I turned off the safety and narrowed my eyes as I maneuvered between the men and my most valuable possession, "I won't tell you twice."

"Okay," the men all raised their hands and backed away, but the first guy didn't feel like leaving well enough alone. He continued towards me, motioning back to the car, "Listen, you've got a lot of supplies in there. More than one person needs."

Another joined in, "We've got people here that need help."

Then the fourth man, "Maybe you can donate some of your things to the cause."

"Hey!" I trained my gun onto the nearest man, speaking louder still, "Maybe Teagan will give you some of her supplies when she get's back." I even continued, "I'm not staying, just dropping her off, I need my things for out there."

The first guy seemed just as confused as Marcy had been, "Not staying?"

"Marcy," I turned to her but kept my eyes on the man closest to me, "Tell these people to leave me be."

"You heard her guys," she waved them off, "Teagan will give us everything she can, don't worry." Once the vultures had left she turned back to me, "You really aren't staying?"

I hopped up to sit on the hood of my car, "I thought I said we have nothing more to talk about."

She took a few steps so that she was standing directly next to me, speaking softly, "When we first came here, my family knew something was wrong too. The military kills the people that get sick because they don't know what causes it." Her voice grew quieter still, "They also… kill them and feed them to the zombies. I've seen 'shipments' go out and one time I spied on them. They dump the bodies at various points in the city to ward them away from the town."

"That's fucking sick." It was. Tactically smart, but cruel and horrible. "Why haven't you guys done anything? Staged a coup?"

She sighed, "What can we do? More than half the people in this town that realize what's happening are civilians. They don't know how to use a gun. We can't just try and overthrow Taylor."

"So he's in charge?"

She nodded, "Yeah." I noticed few of the men on top of the wall looking at us a little more intently than normal, and she must've too because she shifted, "I can't say more, but he changed since she left."

"This isn't the answer." I glanced at the men, then looked to her again, "Killing anyone who is even remotely sick. It's inhumane."

She seemed so defeated, "There's nothing we can do."

"You can leave."

It sounded as though she'd never even considered it, "And risk it out there?"

I let out a laugh, "Trust your immune system that much, huh? Willing to bet your life on that?"

"What are you—"

"The guy was just coughing," I cut her off, "Just a cough and they killed him." I paused for a few moments, considering what Teagan would say. Even if she had been friends with Taylor, she'd never support this. Either that or I read her completely wrong. When I tell her about this she'll want to leave and take Marcy with us, and her parents. I decided to go out on a limb, "Teagan can protect you out there, and she'll teach you to protect yourselves."

Still with the defeat, "We _can't_ just leave this place."

I shrugged, "This is still America, isn't it? Home of the free?"

"Is it?" We stood in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up again, "Are you just going to guard this thing until then?"

"Why not?" I glanced around, "I've seen enough of this place."

More silence followed before she piped up again, this time asking something extremely personal. "The scar on your forehead," she looked at it closely, "How'd you get it?"

I smirked, "Voldemort."

"No, seriously," she leaned onto the car gently, "I want to know."

"Alright," I traced the scar with my finger as I continued, "It was one of my first jobs with the company, a bunch of bulky guys and me doing a simple escort gig. They'd been giving me a hard time for… you know… not having a dick, so I guess I was out to prove something that day. Ran into a few insurgents at the drop off. One of our guys took a bullet, so I went to cover him." I tapped the side of my head that had nearly been blown clean off, "Took one of my own." She stared at the visible sections of the scar and I laughed, "And that's why you always wear a helmet," I unclipped the helmet from my belt and plopped it on my head with a smile, "I'd be dead if it wasn't for this, hell, they thought I'd die anyway."

"How bad was it?" She seemed genuinely interested.

"I was lucky," I sighed as I thought back to the very bloody day, "Half of the old noggin is made of metal now, and there was minor damage to my frontal and temporal lobes." I raised an eyebrow at her, "The doctor went on this spiel about potential problem's I'd face: trouble concentrating, mood swings, forgetting stuff, hand-eye coordination, becoming overly aggressive and religious. None of that happened thankfully. The only thing was I got worse at this," I motioned to her.

She tilted her head, "What?"

"Dealing with people," I motioned between us again, "I wasn't too good at that to begin with, though."

"Why not?"

I raised my shoulders slightly, "Guess I just don't like most people. Never did."

She questioned me, "But you like my sister?"

"She's competent, tolerable." I began to roll the medallion around in my hands as the conversation continued.

There were only a few seconds of pause between her next question, "Is that a bullet-proof vest?"

I nodded, pulling my shirt to cover it better, "Think the other's noticed it?"

"No," she shook her head and stared at the gate, "What's it like out there?"

"No different than you might expect."

"Have you," she paused, noticeably nervous, "Have you had to kill any of them?"

I looked from the fence to her, "The zombies?"

"Is that what you think they are?"

I nodded, "Dead risen, what else would you call them?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah," I thought about the mother, the word soulless was all I could see, "There was a boy."

Her next inquiry threw me off guard, "Was it hard?"

I shook my head, my voice lightening, "No." Before she could ask me anything else I turned to her, "You should go and get your things ready for when she gets back."

She gave me a dubious expression, "Who said I was going with you?"

"When your sister gets back I'm going to tell her what is happening here. I'm going to tell her not to stay, and she'll listen to me."

She shook her head, "But we _can't _leave."

"See this?" I patted the hood I was sitting on, "This is a hard car, it'll be able to withstand the bullets long enough for us to get the hell out of here."

"Teagan won't just leave here," she seemed so sure of it, "She'll want to help these people."

"You just said they have no combat skills," she still didn't seem to get it, so I clarified, "They'll just have to avoid sickness and hope for the best."

She seemed offended, "How can you be so cold?"

That was it. No more friendly Karma. No more friendly me. "I'm trying to extend you a fucking invitation. So just pack your things so we're ready when she gets back."

"But—"

I held up my hand to stop her, "You can't save people who don't want to be saved. They think it's safe; they won't want to be saved. It just won't work out. Believe me, I know."

I think she trusted me then, because all she asked next was "What do I need to bring?"

I shrugged again, "Anything you want to? Clothing, any medical supplies you have, any food you have, any blankets or anything. Think of it as an extended camping trip."

"Okay," she nodded and took a few steps off towards the main section of the camp.

"Wait, Marcy," I called after her and waved her back, speaking in a whisper, "Be discreet about it, don't want them to get you too."

-o0o-

"Davis," the slimy man from earlier, Anthony, approached me still perched on the hood of the Cherokee, "Nice car you've got here."

He stepped near me and leaned towards the passenger side door. My words were monotonous, "I wouldn't touch it if you want to keep your hands."

"Looking with my eyes," he flashed me what I could only assume was his most charming smile before continuing to invade my quiet time, "A few of the fellas said you weren't planning on staying."

I nodded, "I was just giving Teagan a ride. I have a few more things to take care of before I can settle down."

"That's a shame," he stood just in front of me now, but his eyes were darting to the car every few seconds, "Maybe you can spare some of your supplies?"

"Most of it is Teagan's," I made up a reasonable excuse to hold off on the issue, "When she gets back I'm sure she'll give you everything she's got."

He nodded a few times, puffing out his chest just before he spoke up next, "So what's your story? Since you'll be on your way soon and all?"

I tried my best to hint to him that I didn't want to talk anymore, "I have a few."

He didn't catch on, "Give me your best one then."

I nodded, sifting through my wars stories before finding the best one. I cracked a small smile as I began, "I was once on a job where my entire crew got blow up by and IED." I paused and tilted my head to him, "Do you know what that stands for?"

He shook his head, "No."

I held up a finger and elaborated clinically, "Improvised explosive device. Can be anything really: cars, hidden in pipes, anything at all. Hence the word improvised." Once he seemed to understand the concept I went on with it, "I was luck enough to be just out of range, but not enough to be spared the sight of the carnage, the sight of my company dead." I hopped off of the hood, my tone had added pep to it, "So there I was, alone among hostiles, and do you know what I did?"

"What?"

"I found the bastard who killed my associates, who made the bomb," I smiled as I looked down at the ground, "I hunted him down and made him tell me who instigated the attack. Getting people to talk isn't so difficult as people tend to think, you know. I found out a great deal about the man, if you can call him that. Hiring children, hurting the sick, an overall bad man. The bomber just spilled his guts to me entirely, first figuratively, then literally."

He interrupted me, "How'd you do that? Get him to tell you about the guy behind it?"

I wagged my finger at him, "A good magician never reveals her secrets." He let out a nervous laugh and I continued, voice still happy as can be, "Anyway, I took his body and made a little IED of my own, paid that head honcho a visit." I sighed as I thought about the look on that evil man's charred remains, "I do love when things go boom. Shame I couldn't see his face, but no one ever got to see his face again I guess. They only got to see what was left of it." I took a few seconds to laugh at the demise of a bad man before composing myself, "What do you think the moral of that story is?"

He shrugged, "Don't fuck with you?"

I laughed again, "You'd think, huh?" I shook my head a few times, "Figured you might even think it was about not fucking with people who Iassociate with. _But actually_ it's about being morally just, not hurting innocent and defenseless people, because if you do Karma's going to be a bitch."

His face contorted as he realized what I'd meant, "What are you—"

I shrugged, "Just something to mull over, the best gem of advice I've got at the moment." The gate in front of us opened and a car pulled in, "Oh look, they're back."


End file.
